Podcast 190: Industrial vs artisan beauty

The beauty industry’s exploration and use of biotechnology is growing rapidly. Large corporate cosmetics companies are turning to biotechnology – or synthetic biology – to grow high-performance cosmetic ingredients sustainably in laboratories. The contrast in approach between the industry of industrial and artisanal beauty is interesting.

While global players like L’Oreal are leveraging biotech for large-scale production, the indie beauty sector, to which the Formula Botanica community belongs, shows little engagement with biotech. When we searched the Formula Botanica online forum for references to biotechnology, we found only a few comments and questions about it.

In this opinion piece, Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier explores these different paths and their implications for the future of beauty. Could the advent of biotech prove the key difference between the artisan-scale indie beauty brand and mainstream fashion? Much depends on the availability of organic ingredients for small-scale brands as well as the mission and mindset of the founders and artisan brewers.

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Quote from the host:

As the big players in beauty turn to biotechnology, which represents beauty on an industrial scale, we have to ask: will there be a definitive separation between industrial and artisanal beauty?

Highlights from this episode:

• Contradictory Approaches: the beauty industry is witnessing a split. Big companies are increasingly embracing biotechnology for mass production, while the indie beauty industry remains focused on small-scale, artisanal methods.
• The Role of Biotech in Industrial Beauty: companies like L’Oreal are incorporating biotechnology to meet their large-scale ingredient needs, signaling a shift toward more synthetic methods in industrial beauty.
• The road of artificial beauty: the artisan sector, represented by independent brands, appears to be less concerned with biotechnology, possibly hinting at a future trend of deepening commitment to herbal botanicals.
• The synthetic vs. natural debate: Historically, the separation between synthetic chemicals and natural ingredients was clear. However, as industrial beauty embraces synthetically created “naturals,” that line is blurred.
• Emerging trends and potential conflicts: The future may see a clash in efficacy and preference for synthetically produced naturals over true naturals, with industrial beauty advocating the superiority of their synthetic formulations.

If you want to learn more about some of the topics we’ve covered, check back in the podcast archives. Go and listen:

Episode 189: Biotech Ingredient Wars – with guest Joshua Britton, CEO and Co-Founder, Debut Biotech.
Episode 121: Beauty of biotech – the controversial new frontier?
Episode 122: Lab-Grown Skin Care – The New Normal?

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Formula Botanica Green Beauty Conversations podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please share, subscribe and review this episode at iTunes, Spotify the Youtube so that more people can enjoy the show. Don’t forget to follow and connect with us at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Lorraine Dallmeier is a biologist, certified environmentalist, and CEO of Formula Botanica, the award-winning online organic cosmetics school. Read more about Lorraine and the Formula Botanica team.